04
Jan 2006

Spotlight: Church of the Saviour

The Church of the Saviour is a very special place - one that merits getting to know. Founded after WWII by a Chaplain from the 101st Airborne, the church has always been a no-nonsense place. Then again, it's not really a place at all. It's a community of church communities spread primarily throughout the Adams Morgan neighborhood in Washington, D.C., focused not on sunday services, worship teams, or feel-good consumer religious consumption, but rather on personal and social transformation -- with jaw-dropping results. Chances are, you've never seen anything like it. But don't take my word for it. In my interactions with the Church of the Saviour, I've collected a number of resources that do a fairly good job of telling the CoS story. I put them here as a kind of online resource for anyone interested in learning more.

  • Without question the official biographer of the Church of the Saviour is Elizabeth O'Connor, a gifted writer who was with the church from the early days (but is no longer with any of us). A selection of her books are available here.
  • There's a great interview with Gordon Cosby, the mastermind in the Fall 2001 issue of Cutting Edge magazine, starting on page 16.
  • The Potter's House Bookstore in Adams Morgan has tons of material both from CoS and all sorts of related ministries.
  • The Festival Center is also home to many of CoS's ministries, including the Servant Leadership School.
One of the most impressive parts of Church of the Saviour is the overwhelming amount of community and social work ("missions") church members have undertaken over the years. Here are some of the currently running missions: I've also made a short documentary about New Community Church, one of the individual churches that makes up the larger CoS community.